Exclusively Available at NativeDSD in Pure DSD 256

The Many Faces of J.S. Bach with pianist Gil Sullivan more than abundantly demonstrates Bach’s all-encompassing, infinite, and truly boundless range as a composer of style, technique, language, and emotion. In his first Partita, “red-tape” Bach reveals himself, obediently adhering to the formal structures of popular dance forms, though inevitably with his genius aplomb and virtuosity.

Often referred to as “The Old Testament” of keyboard music (compared to Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas – “The New Testament”), The Well Tempered Clavier is a work of seismic genius, still today profoundly influencing all musicians, giving latent guidance to the overall course of music these past two and a half centuries.

However deeply cerebral the Well Tempered Clavier may be though, Bach’s character was a veritable mixed bag, witnessed for example by the 6 Little Preludes, where we see him in a slightly more casual mood; maybe in a T-shirt and shorts on a warm summer’s day, or alternately as a teacher effortlessly cobbling together some small nugget at the end of little Johannes’ lesson for him to take home, to aid in a stubborn technical issue.

A deeply devout Lutheran, he kneels before God in the Chorale Prelude – I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ.  Originally composed for the organ, it is here arranged by Wilhelm Kempf, who similarly and very skillfully set for solo piano the Siciliano from Bach’s second Flute Sonata.  This is Bach in a privately meditative and reflective mood.

The Italian Concerto reveals a jesting, ebullient Bach, perhaps throwing back a few ales at the local (I have been to a pub in Germany that Bach frequented) whilst exchanging guffaws and humorous wisecracks with friends.  Here, it is hard to believe this is the same composer of those monumental, phrenic Preludes and Fugues!

Gil Sullivan, Piano